[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3959 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3959

   To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance for 
      foreign civil aviation authorities, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 15, 2020

 Ms. Cantwell (for herself, Mr. Moran, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mrs. Capito) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
                     Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance for 
      foreign civil aviation authorities, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Civil Aviation Authority 
Assistance Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY.

    (a) In General.--Section 40104(b) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Administrator shall'' and inserting 
        the following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Bilateral and multilateral engagement; technical 
        assistance.--The Administrator shall--
                    ``(A) engage bilaterally and multilaterally, 
                including with the International Civil Aviation 
                Organization, on an ongoing basis to bolster 
                international collaboration, data sharing, and 
                harmonization of international aviation safety 
                requirements including through--
                            ``(i) sharing of continued operational 
                        safety information;
                            ``(ii) prioritization of pilot training 
                        deficiencies, including manual flying skills 
                        and flight crew training, to discourage over 
                        reliance on automation, further bolstering the 
                        components of airmanship; and
                            ``(iii) prioritizing any other flight crew 
                        training areas that the Administrator believes 
                        will enhance all international aviation safety; 
                        and
                    ``(B) seek to expand technical assistance provided 
                by the Federal Aviation Administration in support of 
                enhancing international aviation safety, including by--
                            ``(i) promoting and enhancing effective 
                        oversight systems, including operational safety 
                        enhancements identified through data collection 
                        and analysis;
                            ``(ii) attaining, maintaining, and 
                        enhancing adherence to international safety 
                        standards by counterpart civil aviation 
                        authorities;
                            ``(iii) minimizing cybersecurity threats 
                        and vulnerabilities across the aviation 
                        ecosystem;
                            ``(iv) supporting the sharing of safety 
                        information, best practices, risk assessments, 
                        and mitigations through established 
                        international aviation safety groups; and
                            ``(v) providing technical assistance on any 
                        other aspect of aviation safety that the 
                        Administrator determines is likely to enhance 
                        international aviation safety.''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--there are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the amendments 
made by this section.

SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN AVIATION AUTHORITIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 40113(e)(1) of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended by inserting ``The Administrator also may provide 
technical assistance related to all aviation safety-related training 
and operational services in connection with bilateral and multilateral 
agreements, including further bolstering the components of 
airmanship.'' after the first sentence.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 40113(e) of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator, $10,000,000 
        for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2026 to carry out this 
        subsection. Amounts appropriated under the preceding sentence 
        for any fiscal year shall remain available until expended.''.

SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVEMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL 
              PILOT TRAINING TO ADDRESS FLIGHT DECK AUTOMATION AND 
              HUMAN FACTORS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the International Organizations and Programs (IO&P) 
account of the Department of State, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2021 through 2026, to remain available until expended. Amounts 
appropriated under the authority of the preceding sentence should be 
used for expenditures attributable to supporting implementation of 
recommendations included in the working paper titled, ``Pilot Training 
Improvements to Address Automation Dependency'' offered by the United 
States at the 40th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation 
Organization and related to human-machine interface.
    (b) Sense of Congress Regarding International Pilot Training 
Standards.--
            (1) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
                    (A) Increased reliance on automation in commercial 
                aviation risks a degradation of pilot skills in flight 
                path management using manual flight control.
                    (B) Manual flight skills are essential for pilot 
                confidence and competence.
                    (C) During the 40th Assembly of the International 
                Civil Aviation Organization, the United States, Canada, 
                Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago presented a working paper 
                titled, ``Pilot Training Improvements to Address 
                Automation Dependency''.
                    (D) The working paper outlines recommendations for 
                the Assembly to mitigate the consequences of automation 
                dependency, including identifying competency 
                requirements for flight path management using manual 
                flight control and assessing the need for new or 
                amended international standards or guidance.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, 
        as soon as practicable--
                    (A) the recommendations included in the working 
                paper titled, ``Pilot Training Improvements to Address 
                Automation Dependency'' offered by the United States at 
                the 40th Assembly of the International Civil Aviation 
                Organization should be carried out by the Assembly; and
                    (B) the United States should work with the 
                International Civil Aviation Organization and other 
                international aviation safety groups, further 
                bolstering the components of airmanship.
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